Maize and Precolonial Africa

Abstract

Columbus's arrival in the New World triggered an unprecedented movement of people and crops across the Atlantic Ocean. We study an overlooked part of this Columbian Exchange: the effects of New World crops in Africa. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the introduction of maize during the exchange increased population density and Trans-Atlantic slave exports in precolonial Africa. We find robust empirical support for these predictions. We also examine the effects of maize on economic growth and conflict, and find that it had little effect on either channel. Our results suggest that rather than stimulating development, the introduction of maize simply increased the supply of slaves from Africa during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.